State ranks third in rate of accidental deaths per thousand registered vehicles

The rate of accidental deaths per thousand registered vehicles has made Himachal Pradesh the third highest accident hotspot in the country as per the recently released report on accidental deaths by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The rate of accidental deaths per thousand registered vehicles has made Himachal Pradesh the third highest accident hotspot in the country as per the recently released report on accidental deaths by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The NCRB 2013 report on accidental deaths reveals that the rate of accidental deaths per thousand vehicles was highest in Bihar and Sikkim at 1.6 each followed by West Bengal at 1.5. Himachal Pradesh and Assam had a rate of 1.4 each.

The number of deaths due to road accidents in 2013 stood at 1,056 (864 males and 192 females) in a total of 2,981 road accident cases in 2013. In these accidents, 5,232 people were injured, including 4,200 males and 1,032 females.

Compared to last year, the state has shifted to the third position from the second. Last year the rate of accidental deaths per thousand vehicles was highest in Bihar and West Bengal at 1.9 each followed by Himachal Pradesh at 1.8 and Andhra Pradesh at 1.5.

In 2012, 2,899 cases of road accidents were reported in the state resulting in 1,109 deaths (956 male and 153 female) while 5446 were injured including 4,247 males and 1,199 females.

Of the 1,056 road accident deaths considering the type of vehicle, it was found that deaths while travelling in cars were highest- 276 private vehicles at 26.1 per cent.

Bus travel took 166 lives in the state. Out of these, 31 were caused by government buses while private buses were responsible for 135. Compared to 2012, of the 188 deaths due to travelling in buses, the number was 75 for government buses and 113 for private ones. This shows a decrease in accidents by government buses and rise in private bus accidents.